


Something About Him

by moonmoth (greyvvardenfell)



Series: Fictober 2019 [5]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23569639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyvvardenfell/pseuds/moonmoth
Summary: Portia asks Reyja about her new relationship with Julian.
Relationships: Apprentice & Portia Devorak, Apprentice/Julian Devorak, Julian Devorak/Original Character(s)
Series: Fictober 2019 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696495
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Something About Him

**Author's Note:**

> For the Fictober prompt: "There's just something about him/her/them."

“So.” Portia swings around and leans against the wall, blocking me. Her face is alight with curiosity, eyebrows raised and lips drawn into a small excited smile. “You and my brother, huh?”

I’ve been waiting for this, but I’m still not eager to talk about it. “What about us?”

“Well, that’s what you have to tell me!” She drums her fingers against the limewashed hallway, almost bouncing with suppressed energy. “I know I almost walked in on something earlier, when he was changing back at the cottage. And then there’s the Raven? And of course the day you even found out he was my brother at all! Why was he at your shop? And what was all that about ‘what I said to you last night’ when we caught him day-drinking like the idiot he is? C'mon, Reyja, I’m dyin’ here!”

Has it really been so long since we last spoke? I suppose it has. I haven't even seen Portia since she made dinner for us the night we took him to the palace, much less had an opportunity to explain what’s been blossoming between me and Julian. But with him off exploring the hidden passageway, and hopefully staying out of trouble, this might be our best chance to talk about it.

“Well, uh… He was at my shop when you found him because he was making sure I was okay.” I don’t think she needs to know about the thorough feel-up I gave him.

“Oh? Did something happen?”

“No, not really. It was just that I’d run into him the day before— well, actually I kind of sought him out— and we talked for awhile but the guards came, so—”

“Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You sought him out? How’d you do that?” Portia’s staring at me like I have three heads.

The only head I do have is blushing. “It’s a magic thing. I used some research from his desk and found him at the Raven. Nadia asked me to do what I could, and…”

“So you just found some guy you’d never met before—”

“I had met him.”

Her jaw hangs open for a moment before she shakes her head and starts rubbing her temples with both hands. “How? Where?”

I shuffle my feet. “Uh… he broke into the shop the night before I came to the palace.”

“He did what?!”

“It was kind of a misunderstanding. He didn’t, like, take anything. I wasn’t even mad, after I talked to him.”

“O…kay. So he shows up out of nowhere, commits a crime, and calls it an introduction. Then the next time you run into each other, it’s in a scuzzy bar because a magic piece of paper told you he’d be there. And then! Then! He shows up at your house _again_ the next day because the bar you were at was so scuzzy, the guards came and emptied it out before he could say goodbye!”

Now I’m definitely bright red. “When you put it like that, it sounds really sleazy.”

“Listen, no one’s a bigger fan of my brother than me. I just wanna make sure we’re all on the same page here.” Portia grins. “Believe me, I know how much of a handful he is. Honestly, though, that sounds like exactly the way he’d want to meet someone special.”

Did she…? Has he already talked to her? They _did_ spend the whole morning together before I arrived at the cottage. It would’ve been more than enough time to get her up to speed.

“Someone special,” I repeat slowly. “Is that what he said?”

“Are you kidding? Our Ilya, use a two-word phrase when a ten-word one would do?” She laughs. “He would _not_ stop talking about you. How you make his heart soar, how he feels alive again, how he can actually see coming out of this for once… it’s cute. Actually, I don’t think he’s been this happy since he found out Dr. Satrinava would take him on as a student, and that was a loooong time ago.”

I can’t help but smile, picturing him so joyous. Even in my mind’s eye it looks good on him. “Why ask me, then, if you already knew?”

“Oh, Reyja. You do not think like a gossip. There are two sides to every story! I know how he feels about you, but how do _you_ feel about _him_?” She leans in close, eyes darting between mine.

I pause. How can I put into words what Julian means to me? “There’s just something about him. Something in him that speaks to something in me, y'know? He… he told me that it was hard to make him feel at ease, but that he did around me. And I feel the same around him.”

I can’t keep looking at Portia while I bare my soul like this. The opposite wall is much easier. “He understands me. We talked for hours in the Raven and never once was it awkward or strained. Do you know how rare that is for me?”

Oh no. Tightness is creeping into my throat, heralding tears. And yet I can’t stop talking. “But it also goes a lot deeper than that, I think. I’m happy around him, too. Lighter. He makes me feel attractive and interesting and sexy. Like I belong somewhere. Like I'm not as worthless as I always thought I was. He isn’t expecting me to be anyone other than who I am. And…“ I swallow hard. "And I don’t want to be anyone else when I’m with him. That’s the biggest thing. I never want to be me, but I don’t mind it so much when I see myself through his eyes.” I sniffle and wipe away what’s leaked down my cheeks with the back of my hand. “So I guess, to answer your original question: me and your brother? God, I hope so.”

Portia is quiet for a long time, long enough that I think she might have left. With my back turned, I can’t tell. But before she says anything, someone else speaks.

“Oh, Reyja… my darling, can I kiss you?”

I whirl around. Julian is leaning against the hidden door, his borrowed servant’s uniform spotted with cobwebs and grime from the corridor and his wig slightly askew, revealing his auburn hair. Beside him, Portia has her hands pressed to her chest, tears of her own glistening in her eyes. I don’t know how much he heard, but it must’ve been enough. I nod, trying to keep my bottom lip from trembling.

He’s at my side in an instant. One curled finger lifts my chin as he snakes his other arm around my back and guides me to rest against him. His lips are cool and soft, not deepening the kiss until I do. We stay joined for a long time, breaking apart reluctantly only after Portia clears her throat in a not-so-subtle signal that enough is enough.

Julian presses his forehead against mine with an adoring smile, peering down at me with both eyes visible for the first time. “You are so wonderful, Reyja. I will never ask you to be someone else, because who you are is so beautiful, you simply take my breath away.”


End file.
